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Special Education Services

 

Preschool

Any child between the ages of 3-5 years old, residing in the Elmont School District, and is suspected of having a developmental delay, can be referred to the Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE). The CPSE will arrange for a comprehensive evaluation to determine if your child meets the New York State Department of Education's criteria to receive special education services. A referral to the CPSE begins with a letter to the Chairperson requesting an evaluation.

If you would like more information about this process, contact Helisse Palmore, Assistant Director of Pupil Personnel Services and Special Education at (516) 326-5580 ext. 42243.

 

School Age

The Elmont Union Free School District maintains a variety of Special Education services that are offered to children identified by the Committee on Special Education (CSE).

In each school there is a Child Study Team designed to help all teachers. At these team meetings, an individual student is focused on and strategies are offered to general education and special education teachers to assist them in meeting the individual needs of the students in their classes. Meetings are held on a weekly basis.

The Elmont School District has adopted a Response to Intervention Plan. In order for a student to be referred to the Committee of Special Education, the student must have received intervention at the Tier III Level. For more information, please refer to the Response to Intervention Plan.

The New York State Department of Education recognizes thirteen classifications. They include:

  • autism
  • blindness
  • deafness
  • emotional disability
  • hearing impairment
  • intellectual disability
  • learning disabilities
  • multiple disabilities
  • orthopedic impairment
  • other health impairment
  • speech/language impairment
  • traumatic brain injury
  • visual impairment

 

All children suspected of having a disability can be referred by the parent, teacher, school staff or physician. A student with a disability means a child with a handicapping condition as defined in Section 4401 (1) of the Education Law…who, because of mental, physical or emotional reasons, has been identified as having a disability and who requires special services and programs approved by the District. A student may not be considered disabled if the determining factor is:

  • lack of appropriate instruction in reading, including essential components of reading instruction. This includes:
    • phonemic awareness
    • phonics
    • vocabulary development
    • reading fluency, including oral reading skills
    • reading comprehension strategies
  • lack of instruction in math
  • limited English proficiency

 

Prior to, or as part of the referral process, the student will have received appropriate high –quality, research-based instruction regular education settings, including that the instruction was delivered by highly qualified personnel.

Once referred and parental consent has been received, the following evaluations are necessary to determine if a handicapping condition exists:

  • social history
  • psychological evaluation
  • educational evaluation
  • updated medical report
  • teacher's report
  • classroom observations
  • other evaluations as needed

 

When evaluations are completed, the Committee on Special Education, which consists of a multidisciplinary team, invites the classroom teacher and the parents to attend the meeting. At the meeting, the results of assessments are reviewed. It is determined whether the student qualifies for special education services and an appropriate level of services is recommended.

 

The continuum of services offered in the District are as follows:

  • Related services only which may include speech therapy, socialization, counseling, occupational therapy of physical therapy
  • Resource room program is a special education program for a student with a disability registered in a general education class who is in need of specialized supplementary instruction in an individual or small group setting for a portion of the school day.
  • Integrated Co-Teaching classroom (ICT) is a classroom in which general education students and students with Individualized Educational Plans (IEP) receive instruction together from two teachers, a general education teacher and a special education teacher. The instruction in the classroom meets the needs of students with and without a disability.
  • Special Education class is a class consisting of students with the same disability or with differing disabilities who have been grouped together based on similar individual needs for t he purpose of providing a special education program.

 

A variety of self-contained special education classes are available in the district. If a student requires more intensive services, various out-of-district programs, including Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) will be explored.